Understanding China: top ten book list

China has become a topic of conversation the world over whether you look in the pages of the New York Times, the Financial Times, The Hindu or the Rajasthan Patrika. Interpretations of its political system and its democratic value are highly one sided in media outlets. The western media and intellectuals, as well as its allied outlets in Asia and Africa, want to paint the Chinese people as victims of an authoritarian state, and deny the existence of rich debates and civil life within China. Here we have compiled a list of books that offer an understanding of Chinese history, its political system and thought, and its current meteoric rise on the world stage. These are works that attempt to study China on its own terms, independent of Western propaganda and racist rhetoric.

           History of the Chinese Revolution

1. The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh by Agnes Smedley
   A biography of one of the leaders and strategists of the Chinese Revolution, General Chu Teh. This book describes the conditions of the Chinese peasantry and the human basis for the Chinese Revolution.
2. Red Star Over China by Edgar Snow
   A classic account of the Chinese Revolution by an American journalist which describes the leadership and the cadre of the revolution, as well as the famous Long March.
   
   Contemporary China: Domestic and on the World Stage
   
   
3. The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State by Zhang Weiwei
   Zhang Weiwei is one of China’s most important contemporary scholars. He describes the concept of a civilizational state, the combining of China ancient civilization with a distinctly modern people’s state.
4. When China Rules the World by Martin Jacques
   Martin Jacques argues that China must be understood as a civilization-state and that its rule has a civilizational basis.
5. Xi Jinping: The Governance of China by Xi Jinping
   A collection of speeches and articles by Xi Jinping which reveals the thinking of the leader, his conception of Chinese society and state.
6. Contemporary Chinese Political Thought: Debates and Perspectives, Fred Dallmayr, Zhao Tingyang
   A series of articles by different Chinese scholars which capture the diversity and debate in political thought in China including the influence of Confucius, Marx and Mao.
7.  Is China Buying the World? by Peter Nolan
   Peter Nolan is one of the foremost western commentators on the Chinese Economy. He argues that the claims of China buying the world are greatly exaggerated and hide the complete capture of the highest levels of the world economy by western companies.
   
   China and India
   
   
8. In two Chinas by K M Panikkar
   K. M. Panikkar was the first Indian ambassador to China and had the unique privilege of seeing the transition of China from the rule of Chiang Kai-Shek to Mao Zedong. He further describes the period of the Korean War.
9. China: A 5,000-year Odyssey by Tan Chung
   Tan Chung’s father was invited by Rabindranath Tagore to head Cheena Bhavan in Shantiniketan. Having lived in India, he writes from a unique perspective, where he loves both India and China. This book is unusual because it emphasizes the connection between India and China historically while discussing China’s history. 
10. Talks in China by Rabindranath Tagore
    Rabindranath Tagore is very well known in China and part of their school education. He had a deep friendship with the Chinese and was greatly admired by nationalists like Liang Qichao who influenced Mao. These talks reflect his thinking on Pan-Asianism.
    
    In Depth History of the Communist Party of China
    
    
11. An Ideological History of the Communist Party of China: Three-Volume Set by Qian Zheng
    This is an additional suggestion for those launching on an in-depth study of modern Chinese history. The Communist Party of China has officially sanctioned this three volume ideological history. It is very rich particularly in its evaluation of the early days of China after the Communist capture of the state.